Harvard University's ARTS FIRST Festival Marks 25th Anniversary

Campus-wide celebration, April 27-30, will include Harvard Arts Medal ceremony honoring actor John Lithgow; a special performance showcasing achievements of alumni/ae and student artists; Performance Fair featuring over 100 live performances and interactive art-making; and an afternoon of jazz-almost all family friendly and free of charge!

Harvard University's ARTS FIRST, an annual festival of student and faculty creativity, celebrates its 25th anniversary Thursday-Sunday, April 27-30, 2017. Sponsored by the Board of Overseers of Harvard University and produced by the Office for the Arts at Harvard with partners across the University, this year's festival includes more than 200 music, theater, dance, film, visual arts and multidisciplinary events at indoor and outdoor venues, as well as participatory art-making activities. Featuring classical and rock 'n' roll to chamber and choral music, a cappella, jazz, experimental and other musical forms, plus stand-up comedy, contemporary and classical theater, more than 20 global dance styles and much more, all events are open to the public, most free of charge and suitable for audiences of all ages. Highlights include:

• The Harvard Arts Medal Ceremony Honoring John Lithgow '67 ArD '05, hosted by Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust;
• A Celebration of Harvard Artists Marking the 25th Anniversary of ARTS FIRST featuring an ensemble of accomplished Harvard alumni/ae, faculty and student artists under the direction of Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus '88, Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater;
• Saturday's Performance Fair featuring over 100 free performances and presentations every half-hour at eleven venues in and around Harvard Yard, preceded by a performance by Silk Road Ensemble percussionist Shane Shanahan and Harvard students and "In the Beginning: The ARTS FIRST Creation Story," a tongue-in-cheek pageant relating the story of the founding of ARTS FIRST, as well as "Make Art" stations featuring hands-on art-making activities;
• Jazz on the Plaza featuring the Harvard Monday Jazz Band conducted by Yosvany Terry, Visiting Senior Lecturer of Music and Director of Jazz Bands, and the Yosvany Terry Quintet;
• "Impulse," an interactive public art experience of light and sound co-created by Lateral Office-a Toronto-based experimental design practice founded by Harvard Graduate School of Design graduates Lola Sheppard and Mason White-and the Montreal-based lighting consultancy CS Design; and much, much more!

All Performance Fair events and most ARTS FIRST events are accessible. For more information visit ofa.fas.harvard.edu/arts, or contact the Office for the Arts at Harvard at 617.495.8676. ARTS FIRST guides will be available mid-April at the following Cambridge locations: Harvard Coop, 1400 Massachusetts Ave.; Harvard Box Office at Farkas Hall, 10 Holyoke St.; and the Harvard University Information Center, Dunster and Mt. Auburn Streets.